Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to use this occasion to do a special acknowledgement. Mr. Speaker, I have a special constituent of mine who is approaching his 95th birthday this Saturday, November 7th. The person can be easily described as a northern renaissance man of his time. He has been a fur trader, a trapper, a general contractor, a pilot and, recently, an author. The person I am referring to is our well-respected Mike Krutko, father of our Member, David Krutko.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, Mike Krutko may appear as a senior in his well-weathered aged body, but I can...

I will take that last as a commitment that they will reassess and do a current assessment. Mr. Speaker, speaking specific to the City of Yellowknife, they have moved some of the capacity money in preparation waiting for the leadership of MACA to help glue this initiative together. Is the Minister well aware of the fact that CRTC requirements, if I understand them correctly, say if we go to an enhanced 911 service, it causes our mobility companies to provide cell phone service in every one of our small communities and that would actually be the carrot that many Members really want about getting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr Speaker, today I am going to dial into the 911 issue and I certainly hope the Minister of MACA is willing to pick up the call and the urgency of this concern.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has talked about not being able to help facilitate this problem even though it helps 77 percent of the population of the Northwest Territories. So I’ll take a different approach.

The NWTAC, that’s Association of Communities, 27 of the 33 communities have supported the 911 initiative over the last three years. I am just curious as to what is holding the Minister back with that type of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to highlight some of the successes the RCMP are having in their efforts to curb the supply of illegal drugs coming north into our communities. It should be no surprise to anyone that all Northerners have come to see the members of our RCMP as significant pillars of our communities.

Now, outside of the world-class symbol of service policing and community involvement that we all know very well, much of their work is largely done behind the scenes and gone unnoticed like a well-oiled machine.

This, in my view, is a clear testament to the high degree of quality...

I would like to recognize a constituent, Bob Reid. As well, at the same time, I would like to recognize Sevn Bohnet, a friend from here, in Yellowknife, for a long time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Finance prove quality assurance processes by developing innovative cost-effective means to review procurement and contract administration practices against established risk tolerances; and further, that the department consider including tolerance standards and performance in the business plan; and furthermore, that the department persist in recruitment to fully staff the audit division.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You may recall that the Standing Committee on Government Operations tabled Committee Report 2-16(4), Report on the Review of the Auditor General on Contracting for Goods and Services in the Northwest Territories, on October 22nd, 2009. The report was received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration. The report contained several recommendations.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I move that this committee recommends that the government provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act be amended to extend the period of time in which applicants may ask that a decision on a request for information be reviewed by the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.